Gareki's & Nai's World Of Shenanigans
by FanWriter83
Summary: The adults of the first, second and research tower are not quite sure whether their decision of letting Gareki and Nai stay will be a breath of fresh air or their biggest mistake ever. One thing they do know is that life on the airships will never be the same again,especially with the thief's and the niji's shenanigans. *collection of funny, and fluffy one-shots*
1. Healthy Snacks & Butterflies

Gareki entered the ship's lounge room where he found Nai, Tsukumo and Yogi sitting on the couch surrounded with a bunch of candy wrappers as they played a skit with Yogi's stuffed Nyanperonas. Gareki couldn't help himself but to scowl. Since Nai discovered candy he became just as addicted to the stuff as Yogi.

"Hi, Gareki. You wanna play with us too?" Nai asked, but Gareki didn't hear him. He was too busy with coming up a plan to get Nai eat more healthy stuff. Not that he was too fat or anything, but he might if he kept eating the junk the old doctor and Yogi fed him. That's when he got an idea.

Without saying anything, Gareki turned on his heels and left the room with determined steps, leaving unwittingly a heartbroken half Niji behind. Tsukumo and Yogi had to quit the Nyanperona skit to comfort Nai, who broke into tears thinking he had done something wrong to Gareki.

* * *

A few hours later, Gareki returned into the ship with a large box. Of course the sheep didn't trust the largely box and insisted the raven haired teen to put it down and open it for further inspection. However, Gareki refused then sprinted away as fast as he could with an army of sheep hot on his trail.

Hirato, hearing all the commotion, came outside his room to see what was going on. Before his brain actually had the time to process what had happened, Hirato found himself overrun by Gareki who then disappeared into the next hallway without even looking back. The sheep stopped to look if everything was fine with the First Ship's Captain.

Gareki noticed the sheep were no longer on his tail and rushed inside the lounge room hoping Nai would still be there. Surprisingly he was, just like Yogi and Tsukumo. He quickly shut the door behind him with his foot then walked towards Nai.

Nai, already forgotten what had happened hours earlier, dashed towards the raven haired teen. His eyes sparkling in joy and curiosity when he saw the large box.

"What's inside, Gareki?" Nai cried cheerfully, trying to get closer. He could definitely hear something flutter inside.

To not ruin his surprise too quickly, Gareki kept the box away from Nai's sticky candy fingers then said; "I spend hours and hours to catch a healthy snack for you, so you better be grateful, you stupid animal."

"Catch? Snack?" Tsukumo asked, getting a really bad feeling.

Ignoring the blond girl, Gareki put the box onto the ground. Nai bounced beside him ecstatically then watched in awe when Gareki opened the lids and bunch of butterflies flew up to the ceiling.

"AAAH!" Tsukumo screamed then ran out the room protecting her hair for the butterflies as if they were bats. Nai however, dashed enthusiastically after them and tried to catch as many as he could.

Hirato, still assuring the sheep that he's feeling perfectly fine, saw Tsukumo run down the hallway, screaming her lungs out in fear. Knowing which way to go to find the street boy, Hirato told the sheep to go after Tsukumo and make sure she was fine while he would deal with Gareki.

Hirato charged inside the lounge room where he found Gareki and Yogi chatting while Nai was happily chewing on some butterflies. The First Ship's Captain had to fight the urge of losing his temper as he stomped regally towards the dark haired boy then grabbed the shrubs of his neck and dragged him out the room, kicking and screaming.

"What were you thinking? Releasing hundreds of butterflies into the ship?" Hirato asked, trying not to lose his cool when Gareki just sat opposite of him, looking at him with a sassy attitude.

Rolling his eyes briefly, Gareki said witty; "Isn't it obvious? Nijis also catch them in the wild by themselves. Besides, it's much healthier for him, instead of all those candy he gets served on a silver platter by the old hermit and that blonde clown."

Hirato, feeling lost for words, opened and closed his mouth like a fish on dry land. By the time he finally knew what to say, the captain found Gareki's seat empty, because the teen already had left the room without asking for permission first.

Reaching his right hand slowly to his temple with a deep heavy sigh, Hirato made a mental note to himself to contact the Second Ship's Captain and ask him if he was interested in another troubled teen. The kid would fit in quite well with Jiki and Kiichi.


	2. Cherry Blossom Season

Akari strutted down the Research Tower hallway when suddenly something fell onto the top of his head. The young, pink haired doctor stopped in his tracks then brushed his head off and watched a bunch of cherry blossom petals fall to the ground.

Wait, cherry blossoms? Inside a building? Akari looked up to the ceiling in suspicion, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

Thinking it had been just an illusion after his long nightshift, the doctor shrugged then walked on. But then he was surprised with another bunch of petals. They made him sneeze loudly.

In the air vent above Akari's head sat Gareki, holding a fit of laughter as he dropped more and more cherry blossom petals at the loudly sneezing man below him.

* * *

Hirato, Tsukumo, Akari, Jiki, Kiichi, and Tsukitachi were all summoned by the Super-Secret Government (is how Yogi likes to call them) to join another 'how-to-deal-with-the-Niji' conference.

"As I said last week; I will not…" Akari started but was interrupted when cherry blossom petals fell out of nowhere and rained down onto him. The pink haired doctor, not wanting to lose his stoic composure, cleared his throat then added; "…dissect a human being only because…" Akari was interrupted for a second time with a soft tap on his arm. The doctor turned his head to the culprit and barked; "What?!"

Hirato, not taken back by Akari's violent body language, replied with a grin; "Those cherry blossoms really match your hair, Akari. Don't you think so too, Tsukitachi?"

"Yes, yes!" The first ship captain nodded his head rapidly then leaned closer and whispered; "It really brings out his eyes as well."

Jiki, Tsukumo, and Kiichi felt quite awkward with the situation and rather wanted to be elsewhere right now. Akari's eyebrow twitched in irritation as the two captains, one on each side of him, kept throwing flirtatious comments.

"Maybe we should move his office outside the Research Tower and locate his desk underneath the cherry trees," Tsukitachi said.

Hirato stroked his chin and said; "That would be an excellent idea, but therefore we need cherry blossom trees first."

"What? Why hasn't anyone ever planted those trees around the Research Tower?!"

"Maybe because, up till now, no one knew how well the petals match Akari's hair."

"Don't forget his eyes, Hirato." Tsukitachi blew a handful of cherry blossoms into Akari's face. Akari really had to fight the urge of breaking out of character and pummel both men for being so ridiculously childish. He even dared to bet either one, or both, had something to do with the petals falling out of nowhere. Why else would they make so much fun of the situation rather than looking surprised for the fact there were cherry blossoms raining inside, like every other normal human would.

Suddenly someone cleared its throat uproariously and the three men looked up in surprise. Of course it was hard to tell what their facial expression was because they were nothing but darkened silhouettes on a screen, but their body language looked like they were not happy with the playful flirts.

"Could we please go back to the subject of this conference, the Niji?" the head of the 'Super-Secret Organisation' asked as soon he got everyone's attention again.

Jiki suddenly raised his hand then asked with a frown; "Sooo…no one but me is weirded out by the fact there are falling cherry blossoms from the ceiling air vent?"

"This conference is about how much of a threat this Niji can become when Kafka gets their hands on him, not discussing how flower petals end up in the air conditioning system," the leader said then mumbled; "Though, maybe someone should look into that later. Anyway…Hirato, what are you planned to do when…

The leader of the organisation could say no more for he was interrupted by a loud rumbling sound, cue followed by two boys screaming as they fell down. As they landed in the center of the table, youngest on top, they didn't move at all. They were just as confused as all the presence people in the room.

Hirato, who recognized the two boys immediately, inhaled a deep breath to not break out of character then asked the oldest; "Mr. Gareki, what are you doing here and why did you involve Nai into this?"

Gareki remained lying flat on his back as he turned his head to face Hirato then replied with a cheeky grin; "Checking how safe these ceilings are, duh. But's it's more than obvious I don't have to tell you how weak they are. Usually I need explosives to get a hole that size."

"So this is the street thief who tagged along with the Niji?" A stern voice asked, belonging to no one other than the leader of the secret organisation.

"Yeah! Two for the prize of one…" Jiki mumbled sarcastic then received the most iciest glare from Gareki as the teen pushed Nai off of him then rose to his feet, dusted his clothes and fixed his goggles. However, he made no attempt to jump off the table. Instead he faced the screen and glared angrily.

"The name's Gareki, you old fart! And the Niji you're referring to, his name is Nai!" Nai waved happily at the screen as he heard his name. The men of the 'Super-Secret Organisation' didn't look impressed at nor. Nor did they think Nai was cute.

Hirato met Gareki's eyes then pulled in a deep sigh and asked; "Gareki. Have you been asking Nai to eaves drop on us again?"

"What? No way, man!" Gareki replied, looking slightly insulted.

Nai chimed in with a firm nod; "Gareki's right. We tried to make Akari-sensei happy. Cherry blossom season makes everyone happy, Gareki said."

"Obviously not everyone…" Hirato replied as he stole a glance at the pink haired man beside him and received a side glare in return. Then he cleared his throat and said, with a serious tone in his voice; "Gareki should have known better, Nai. This is a private meeting."

"Private?" Nai looked thoughtfully, pondering what the word 'private' meant. Then he suddenly remembered it and tugged at Gareki's sleeve then whispered; "They are the Super-Secret Organisation Yogi told us about."

"So, you guys are the scumbags who want to use Nai as a human experiment." The raven haired teen's eyes filled with rage.

The leader of the 'Super-Secret Organisation snorted; "Well, he's not really a human, is he?"

"That's it! I will find you, you S.O.B!" Gareki roared angrily then pointed at Nai and bellowed; "You hunt Nai, I'll hunt you! Expect it when least expect it. You are number 1 on my revenge list if you dare to touch Nai!"

While Gareki threw more insults and treats at the Government, the three adults stuck their heads together and started a heated game of rock, paper, scissors to decide which one of them would drag Gareki outside then apologize to the Government for the teenager's behaviour.

"You can hide your face behind that screen filter all you want, but your body posture and height will be printed in my brain and when you'll pass me on the streets, you'll be…" Gareki could say no more for he was lifted up underneath Akari's arm, who lost the game of rock, paper, scissors, then was carried outside. Nai, worried for his friend, quickly trotted after them.

* * *

Hours later, the two captains and the doctor stood outside the second airship enjoying the sundown when suddenly one of the airship's windows opened and Gareki poked his head.

"Oi!" he yelled down. The three adults looked up finding the teen, the immense smirk on his face, and the bucket he was holding. Blue irises locked with the pink one.

Knowing what was about to happen, Akari raised his fist and yelled; "If you dare to drop that bucket of cherry blossoms onto me, I will turn you into a science experiment!"

"Yeah, I knew you would say that," Gareki smirked. "Besides, I already figured cherry blossoms would be a waste on you! So instead, I try something..."Suddenly, Gareki was interrupted and the two captains and the doctor, still standing below the open window, heard Yogi's voice.

"AAGH! You can't throw that onto Akari-Sensei! He will operate you without anesthesia!" The blond fighter threw himself onto the raven haired teen and a struggle for the bucket started. Things went from bad to worse and the bucket tipped over. The two airship captains were smart and quick enough to sidestep, but the pink haired the doctor wasn't. Freezing cold water landed on top of him.

Gareki, poking his head out the window, yelled down; "So you know, this is Yogi's fault! I was only bluffing!"

"AAAGH, you are so mean, Gareki!" Yogi wailed then poked his head out the window and whimpered at the pink haired doctor he was so afraid of; "I am so sorry, Akari-Sensei! I will make it up to you, somehow, and…" Yogi received a smack to the back of his head from Gareki.

"Relax, you idiot! He's not even mad. You can tell by the look on his face. It's his 'it's-just-water-and-water-doesn't-hurt' face."

"NO! It's his 'you-better-run-before-I—wait, where did he go to?" Yogi turned pale.

Gareki frowned then looked down and only found the two ship captains who mouthed; "Run." Quick footsteps came running down the hallway, indicating they were about to get into big trouble. Yogi ran around in circles, hysterically, trying to find a hiding spot. Gareki climbed into the nearest hiding spot, the closet.

The door swings open with gusto revealing a soaking wet doctor. Yogi nearly fainted in fear then pointed at the closet, hoping the doctor wouldn't target him but the real culprit; "Gareki is hiding in the closet!"

Nai skipped happily down the second ship's hallway then froze when he saw Akari exit his and Gareki's bedroom, dragging both Yogi and Gareki with him by the shrubs of their necks. Yogi wailed like a little child while Gareki bellowed all sorts of insults while trying to squirm himself free. Not that it worked.


	3. Interrogation

"Gareki! You are so COOL!" Yogi said ecstatically when the former street thief told all the tiny details of how he handled thugs who ever dared to double-cross him. "You should definitely show it to me when we go out on a mission!"

Hirato nearly choked on his morning coffee then shot a glare across the table at the blonde. No way he would allow Gareki on mission. Not yet anyway. The kid was still a loose cannon ball.

Yogi knew the glare too well and hung his head sadly. Gareki however, grinned from ear to ear. He just got an idea.

* * *

Gareki, Yogi, and Nai kneeled down behind a large dumpster. At first, the raven haired boy wanted to take only Yogi with him, but when Nai asked to come along and didn't take a no for an answer, he had no other choice then to let him come.

Yogi suddenly tucked Gareki's arm and pointed at a random man crossing the street and whispered loudly; "What do you think about him?!"

"No. He's looks too dumb to be a criminal," Gareki whispered back then eyed some random pedestrians before narrowing his eyes suspiciously and pointed at a little girl, whispering; "She looks like she's up to something."

Yogi stared at the younger boy then asked, worriedly; "What if she's lost, Gareki? She might be looking for her mommy or daddy."

"What makes you think she's lost?"

"Look at her, Gareki! She's a toddler!"

Gareki puffed up like an angry cat then whispered through his teeth; "Nothing is ever what it seems, you idiot! Toddlers can be really mean and sly! I even dare to bet that little pink haired girl in the train has connections to Kafka! But does shitty four eyes wanna listen to me?"

"Were you a mean and sly child in the past, Gareki? Because you know what they say, be one to know one." Yogi noticed the murderous glow in Gareki's eyes and quickly recoiled to a tiny ball. The raven haired boy would have punched the blond if Nai hadn't been there and grabbed his sleeve.

"Gareki! That man just said something very, VERY bad inside the tiny box he's holding to his ear," Nai said with tiny voice. Gareki looked at where Nai was pointing at and saw a man wearing a suit and rectangular glasses. He putted the tiny box Nai mentioned earlier (a phone) in his pocket then looked around before crossing the street.

A grin formed onto Gareki's face who said; "Yeah! He is definitely suspicious. Let's roll, guys!"

Stalking away from behind the dumpster, Gareki and Yogi followed the suspicious behaving man from safe distance. Nai however, took Gareki's words too literally and stayed behind, rolling over like a dog.

* * *

A little while later, the three friends were together again and resumed their mission. Then when no other pedestrians were close enough to witness what happened, Gareki grabbed the man from behind and shoved him into the nearest alley. He then pushed the man up the wall with force.

"For who do you work!"

The looked at the blond, the white haired then finally at the raven haired as if they were crazy (which they were) then tilted his head and asked, curiously; "Wait, aren't you..

"We are the ones asking the questions!" Gareki shoved the man further up the wall, with force. "Now tell us, for who do you work?!"

The man smiled, as if he didn't felt threatened at all. With the tip of his fingers he pushed his glasses further up his nose and said; "I have been looking for you three. You see…

"Who gave you the orders?!" Gareki bellowed, cutting off the man's words then zoomed his face closer, and said, glaring suspiciously; "I bet it was Kafka, wasn't it?"

Nai started to look quite anxious. To him it didn't really look like a game anymore, like Gareki claimed it would be. But what should he do? What could he do?

The man, still not feeling threatened, chuckled; "Seriously? You think I work for Kafka? Boy, you are so wrong. You see, I work for the National…

"I knew it!" Yogi exclaimed, not letting the man finish his sentence. "He's working for the National Group of the Suppressed Unicorns! Unicorns feel suppressed for years and now…

Gareki turned his head at Yogi so fast he could have been an owl. Yogi immediately shrunk, realizing he should have kept his mouth shut. If Gareki didn't already think he was crazy, he would now.

Nai heard the word 'unicorn' and immediately smiled then grabbed Gareki's sleeve and asked, ecstatically; "Can we go see the unicorns, Gareki?"

"You two, SHUT UP!" Gareki growled then smacked the back of Yogi's head first then Nai's. "I told you two to stick to the plan!"

The man, who now was released from Gareki's grip, straightened his expensive looking suit and said; "Look, I was just informed to find you three and bring you back, that's all."

"Back where…?" Yogi asked with tiny voice.

The man shrugged, dully; "Doesn't matter, really. I'm going home right now and let my brother deal with you three on his own. I'll be needing a long, hot bath after the rough treatment you gave me. Until next time, Gareki."

As the mysterious man walked off, Gareki yelled; "You better stay miles away from me, you four eyes, because next time I won't be that mild on you!"

"You called that 'mild?' I thought you were going to break him apart," Yogi said.

Gareki smirked cocky; "That is what I usually do. Anyway, now we still don't know for who he worked." Gareki sighed. "Oh well, we can always...

Gareki could say no more, for he was suddenly attacked from behind and knocked unconscious by a girl. Yogi quickly scooped Nai into his arms then exclaimed with frightened voice; "Tsukumo-Chan, please don't hurt us!"

The girl took in a small breath then said; "Don't worry, Yogi. Hirato only gave me orders to knock Gareki down. He said it might be easier to transport him back to the ship."

"But how did you…" Yogi tried to ask, but Tsukumo already stole Nai from Yogi's arms then flew off with him, leaving Yogi to deal with Gareki's unconscious body.

Later, when they returned inside the second ship, Gareki, Nai, and Yogi met a very angry Hirato. They quickly learned that the man they were harassing earlier, was actually Hirato's older brother, Tokitatsu.

"So, it's official then, huh? Your entire family has the ability of ticking me off!" Gareki mumbled, glaring at the raven haired man. Hirato merely smiled. No way he would lose his composure, this time.


	4. At the Research Tower

A far from ordinary morning started at Airship 2. It started with Gareki, refusing to get up when the sheep told him to. According to the street thief, it was his right to finally sleep in for once. It was something he hadn't done since he was eight years old. However, the sheep did not agree with him.

Knowing second-mode (tickling) wouldn't work on Gareki, the sheep went straight into third-mode.

Nai, who was up and awake, looked clearly worried when his friend was rolled of the top bed and plunged to the floor. The face-plant looked extremely painful, to Nai, yet Gareki jumped to his feet and would have scolded the sheep if he hadn't been knocked back to the floor by a second sheep.

"Wake-up! Wake-up!" the second sheep ordered as he grabbed Gareki's right ankle. Angry insults and threats emitted from Gareki's mouth as he was dragged across the floor, outside the room, and down the hallway.

An hour later, Gareki finally managed to escape from the sheep and plopped down at the breakfast table, next to Nai. The latter seemed to have forgotten the whole incident. He was eating while kicking his feet under the table, happily. Gareki growled shortly. The freaking animal could have helped him, but no. Instead he rushed to Yogi's room to give him a morning hug.

Ignoring the odd looks the others gave him, Gareki started to plate up as many food as he possibly could then, as he buttered his toast, he wondered if they were allowed to get off the ship. The past few days the outside world had been a huge no-go-zone for both him and Nai, who didn't seem to be bothered with it. The half-Niji loved playing with the sheep all day.

Gareki emitted a sigh of boredom. If only he could go into town and buy some clothes instead of having to wear Yogi's ridicules old clothes. Only the idea already creeped him out.

Hirato glanced at the two guests over the edge of his glasses as he took a sip from his orange juice then placed the glass down and said; "We will conduct a more thorough examination once we arrive at the Research Tower."

Gareki snapped from his moody thoughts and looked up, surprised. Did that shitty four eyes just say they were allowed to get off the ship? He couldn't wait. He would escape and run off to the nearest town as fast as the wind. Suddenly, another thought snapped through his mind.

"I guess it's not exactly human experimentation, but still.. they better treat him nicely or else…" Gareki shot a side-glare at the raven haired captain as he pulled onto one of Nai's lavender-colored spikes, for no reason.

Hirato sighed shortly then said; "Don't worry, Mr. Gareki, they will. Especially after those threats you threw at them the other day. I'm pretty sure they still have nightmares about it."

Gareki sensed the sarcasm in the dark haired ship Captain's voice and shot a glare at him. He would have added something witty, but Yogi's sudden scream caught everyone's attention.

"AAGH, Gareki-Kun! You threatened the higher-ups?!" Gareki nodded with a proud look which increased Yogi's panic attack. The latter's face turned pale as he harrumphed; "THEY will not let this slip easily!"

"Yogi!"

The blond subordinate snapped from his panic attack and addressed his eyes to the source of the voice, Hirato. The raven haired man had his eyes closed, tiredly. One would expect a twenty-one year old would act more mature, but not Yogi. He could be so dramatic sometimes.

"Be vigilante out there," Hirato finally said, breaking the short silence.

Yogi nodded vigorously then asked, curiously; "But what will you and Tsukumo-Chan be doing, sir?"

Hirato brought back his orange juice to his lips and replied as he side-glared to Gareki; "We'll do our best to sooth the higher-ups and persuade them to NOT arrest Mr. Gareki. In the meantime, I hope you will behave."

Gareki scratched his ear, nonchalantly, pretending he had not heard the Captain.

* * *

At the Research Tower, Gareki learned escaping wasn't as easy as he thought. The old doctor had been waiting for them on the Research Tower's landing platform and threatened the teen to knock him down if he dared to run away. Nai even latched onto his arm, making it even more impossible to escape. Yogi in the meantime, darted his eyes around like a cautious cat, hoping he wouldn't have a run in with a certain pink haired doctor.

Gareki and Nai were taken to an examination room where Gareki had to go first to show Nai it wasn't scary. While his friend was being poked and prodded, Nai sat on a nearby chair, looking very frantic and worried. He didn't like the sight of all the 'weird white stickers'(electrodes) that were put on Gareki's chest. He also sensed his friend was annoyed with it all and rather wanted to be somewhere else. The raven teen kept grumbling and scolded at the doctor a couple of times.

After being examined properly, the doctor told Gareki the lab reports showed no physical abnormalities, though, the same thing couldn't be said about his personality.

"I'm taking this crap off!" Gareki scowled then pulled all the electrodes off his chest with one swift movement, which looked very painful to Nai. Then it was the latter's turn.

While waiting outside for his two new friends, Yogi suddenly heard an all too familiar voice behind him. He spun one-eighty and came face to face with the one guy he desperately tried to avoid, Akari.

With his back pressed up against the wall, Yogi tried to keep space between him and the pink haired doctor. However, Akari closed the gap by walking forward.

"I hope for your sake you're putting on a fresh patch every morning…" The pink haired man grabbed the blonde's chin, not quite gently then took a closer look at the patch on his left cheek. "The reaction can be terrifying if you don't take it seriously."

"O-Okay…" Yogi tried to say, but it was hard since Akari was still holding his chin, firmly.

While piercing his pink eyes deep into Yogi's purple ones, Akari said threatening; "If you don't take this seriously, we may have to resort to a more painful remedy."

Yogi's heart thumped frightfully in his chest. He knew exactly what the doctor meant with that. The treatment he wat referring to still haunted him in his dreams. Yogi felt his knees weaken as he tried to step away then fell to the floor.

"I-I'll go change it…right now…" Yogi promised then quickly stormed away. Akari wondered whether he should follow and check if Yogi really was going to change his patch, but suddenly the examination room door opened.

"Hey there, doc!" Gareki greeted with a lopsided grin as he and Nai exited the examination room. "Seen any weird cherry blossom petals lately? Or has anyone thrown buckets of water on you, perhaps?"

The pink haired doctor pierced his eyes coldly into the young teen's eyes then said, ignoring the questions; "I assume the doctor advised you two to have a little lie down?"

"Yeah, but we won't be needing it, right Nai?" Gareki looked at his Niji friend who nodded in reply. The raven haired teen then looked around and said; "We will probably investigate this place instead. It's not like you shitty adults allow us to make a trip to the nearest town."

Akari narrowed his eyes suspiciously then grumbled; "Please try not to do anything irresponsible, especially since Nai is here. We don't want him to get caught in dangerous situations, do we?"

Gareki watched the pink haired doctor leave then stroked his chin and wondered what counted as ' irresponsible'. He then smirked and looked at Nai and asked; "Hey, Nai, have you ever wanted to ride a basket down the stairs?"

Nai looked at his thief friend, questioned.

* * *

It wasn't very difficult for Gareki to find a laundry basket big enough for two people. The nurses were happy to help out. They didn't even ask any questions, which was very convenient for Gareki.

"Sit!" Gareki ordered after he and Nai reached the top of Research Tower's stairs. The latter looked at his friend questioned. Gareki rolled his eyes then pointed at the laundry basket on the floor. Nai hesitantly stepped into the basket then sat down, knees up, looking frightfully down the flight of stairs. Gareki pushed the basket forward then kept it balanced as he said; "Hold on tight, Nai!"

Nai felt a tight knot at the bottom of his stomach, but refused to show it. Gareki was cool. Gareki was strong, and never afraid. He just wanted to be just like Gareki. He trusted Gareki. Sure, this game looked dangerous, but if it was really dangerous, would Gareki really let him do this?

"Ready, Nai?" Gareki smirked into the half-Niji's ear. Nai quickly grasped the sides of the basket then swallowed anxiously but nodded as well. "Here we GO!" Gareki jumped in last minute then the basket with him and Nai in it, flew down the flight of stairs with rapid speed. Nai's frightful screams were drowned by Gareki's cheerful screams. "WE'RE FLYING!"

Yogi, who had put on a new fresh allergy patch then went looking for his friends, sauntered down the long hallways, past the stairs. Suddenly…

"YOGI! HELP!"

Yogi halted in his tracks. Was that Nai? Screaming for help?

"YOGI, DUCK!" Gareki shouted, but it was already too late. The basket with him and Nai still in it crashed into the blond Circus subordinate, knocking him over.

"We're so sorry, Yogi!" Nai cried.

"BUT NOT REALLY!" Gareki laughed as they skid with basket and all further down the hallway.

Yogi turned out to be fine, but the same thing couldn't be said about Gareki after the laundry basket with him and Nai comes to halt after collusion with Akari, who just emitted one of the examination rooms to see what all the commotion was. Akari's eyebrow twitched and Gareki knew that was his cue to run away, cackling madly.

Despite the rage burning inside him, Akari refused to lose his stoic demeanour in front of the nurses and trotted after the teen with angry firm steps while scolding the boy's name repeatedly.

Nai, who was left behind by Gareki, got up then went to Yogi for a hug. Gareki's new game hadn't been fun at all. All it had done was hurting his entire body.

* * *

It had taken a while, but Akari finally managed to catch up with Gareki and corner him up against a wall. He would have given the teen the worst talk of his life if they hadn't been interrupted by one of the nurses. She looked quite shyly as she handed Akari a note then quickly bolted.

"Great!" Akari scowled after he read the message on the note. Without as much as a warning, the doctor pressed one hand against the wall, next to Gareki's head, blocking him from getting away then said; "I've been summoned for some stupid video conference with the higher-ups and those ridiculously childish Circus Captains, and I bet it's about you. You better behave from now on or else I will tell them what you've done to that poor Niji."

Gareki glared unimpressed at the pink haired man before him then said; "Actually, I think they wanna talk about Nai. They better not suggest hurting him, or else..

"Behave!" Akari said without letting Gareki finish his threat. He then penetrated his eyes coldly into Gareki's and said; "Or else I will dissect you and use bits of you for human experimentations!"

Gareki threw a major eye roll at Akari as he walked off then sighed and stroked his chin, pondering what he should do next. He then suddenly remembered something.

"Oi, Nai!" Gareki bursts inside the room with gusto. Nai, sitting on the floor looked up from the extremely childish jigsaw puzzle Yogi gave him to play with. Gareki walked toward him then grinned; "The old geezer said something about you being an animal. What did he mean with that?"

Nai looked startled then dropped his eyes down and stuttered; "Well…

"You seem human in every way," Gareki grinned then suddenly his eyes widened as if an major idea struck his mind. "That's it! You have the ability to transform, am I right?"

"Huh?" Nai looked at his thief friend with a muddled expression.

"Well, do it! Transform!" Gareki said insisted. "I wanna see how you do it. Come on!"

Nai's big red eyes started to swim in tears as he looked up at Gareki, who casted over him with his tall frame and smirked manically. The half-Niji shrunk to half his size and quivered in fear.

"Do it now!' Gareki ordered impatiently.

"I don't even know what 'transform' means!" Nai suddenly wailed and broke into tears as he recoiled to a tiny ball on the floor.

Yogi, who just walked in loaded with snacks, instantly went into hysterical helicopter parent mode and rushed over to the half-Niji, exclaiming at Gareki; "AAAH, what did you do this time?!" Then almost smothered Na into a hug; "Don't cry, Nai-chan!"

Gareki rolled his eyes at the blond combatant then replied, casual; "All I asked him to is to transform into an animal. I mean, that's what they say he is, right?"

"What makes you think he can transform on command?"

Gareki shrugged; "I just thought he could. I mean, that woman at that mansion transformed into an monster."

"It doesn't work like that with Nai-chan!" Yogi exclaimed then proceeded hugging the half-Niji's head.

"Then how does it work?!" Gareki looked very irritated. He then thought for a moment and sighed; "You know what, never mind. I'll just ask that shitty four eyes myself."

And with that, Gareki strutted off.

* * *

Yogi only had left both Gareki and Nai alone for a few minutes as they took some fresh air in the evening breeze. They had been locked up in the Research Tower for hours and Akari had finally given in for a quick stroll in the Research Tower's garden. Yogi got a call from Hirato and by the time he returned in the garden, Gareki and Nai where gone.

The poor combatant's heart dropped, fearing the guests who he was responsible for had been taken by Varuga. He only had a few options. Get back inside and tell Akari what happened, call Hirato and ask for permission to search for them, or gather all his courage and go look for them without permission.

Yogi decided to go for the third option. He knew the other two options would result in some very painful punishment. The blond combatant took in a deep breath of air and rushed away.

Meanwhile…

"Look!" Gareki pointed at the ground to show Nai what he just had discovered.

Nai crouched down next to his friend and spotted a trail of large footprints in the mud then tilted his head and frowned; "Who made these?"

Gareki shrugged; "Probably something OR someone with very big feet." It took a few minutes for it to sink in then his eyes lit up. "It must be from the legendary bigfoot." Enthusiastically, the raven haired teen continued following the trail of footprints. Confused as he was, Nai followed, pondering what a bigfeet was.

Fifteen minutes later the trail came to a stop and so did the two 'adventurers'. They looked around for a moment then suddenly Nai latched onto Gareki and whispered; "Someone's coming."

Gareki tried to squirm himself free from Nai but suddenly froze when he heard rustling in the nearby bushes. He then pushed Nai behind him, rolled up his sleeves, and charged away with a battle scream.

"Ga…" Nai tried to whisper but then a frightened scream echoed through the woods, coming from the direction Gareki disappeared into. The poor Niji's heart thumped in his chest then suddenly, a young man with long silver hair and excessive amount of patches on his face emitted from the bushes, ran past Nai and disappeared into the dark. His scream slowly faded away into the distance. Nai tilted his head and frowned; "Who…"

Gareki jumped from outside the bushes and groaned disappointed. The man got away, unfortunately. But he would definitely keep his eyes open. There had been something about the guy that couldn't be trusted.

With that thought in mind, Gareki ordered Nai to follow and strutted away. He didn't get far though, because he felt a sudden pull at the shrubs of his neck. The young teen objected then realized the strong pull belonged to no one other than Akari, who looked quite angry.

"Why did you tackle my assistant?!"

Gareki tried to squirm free, but after he realized it was futile and made him nothing but exhausted, he finally gave up and shouted; "I had no idea it was your assistant, did I?! You should be asking him instead what he was doing out here in the middle of the night!"

Akari's eyebrow started to twitch in irritation then grumbled; "I rather like to know why you two are out here, instead of your room like I told you to!"

"Taking some fresh air, remember?" Gareki snorted.

Nai scurried closer, shyly, then said with tiny voice; "We saw a trail of very large steps. Gareki said it belonged to bigfeet."

"I said, bigfoot, you idiot." Gareki groaned irritated.

Akari dragged in a deep heavy breath to calm his nerves then said between clenched teeth; "Bigfoot doesn't exist!"

"Yeah, people would probably say the same thing if I told them I fought a Varuga then got abducted by crazy people with weird powers who call themselves Circus!"

Akari drew in another breath then grumbled; "Only because Varuga exist, doesn't mean there is a bigfoot!"

"Are you sure about that, Mr. Researcher? Have you ever thought you would cross path with a boy that can transform into an animal?" Gareki smirked then looked at Nai and harrumphed; "Nai, transform, now!"

Nai backed away, bemused.

Akari smacked the back of the raven haired teen's head then grumbled; "Get back inside you two before I turn you into an bigfoot myself!" He ushered the two back to the Research Tower then looked around and mumbled; "Now where did Yogi go to?"


	5. Niji Forest

Gareki opened his eyes, groggily, and spotted a pair of large scarlet eyes mere inches from his face staring at him without blinking once.

"AAAGH!" Gareki screamed in shock then came to realisation to whom the eyes belonged to. "NAI! How many times do I…" Gareki sighed deep. It was no use to try knock something into the half-Niji's thick skull. He wasn't even listening anyway. The huge, beaming smile on his face was a big give away.

"Ah, Gareki! You're awake," Nai cheered with his usual, bubbly voice, watching Gareki sit up in his bed and rub his eyes. "I made you breakfast!" Nai showed Gareki a plate with big, uneven chunks of sliced fruit and two slices of burned toast. By the looks of the amount of patches on the half-Niji's hands, Gareki wondered how it was possible the entire place wasn't burned down to the ground.

"Alright, which idiot allowed you in the kitchen?!" Gareki grumbled as he took the plate from Nai and placed it on his bed sheets.

"Yogi!" Nai replied, beaming like the sun.

 _"Should have known…"_ Gareki mumbled annoyed then looked at the food. It was quite a surprise there weren't traces of fingers between the food. Also, something else was missing. "No juice?"

With a beaming smile as reply, Nai picked up the glass from the floor and carefully handed it to Gareki then stared at him, waiting for him to take a bite from the toast he made. Gareki gulped, then after realizing he had meals far more worse in the past, he took a small bite. Apart from the toast being burned to crisp at several places, it didn't taste that bad.

"Not bad. Thanks, Nai" Gareki grumbled then picked up a chunk of apple and sighed; "But next time, please stay away from sharp objects, okay?"

Nai bobbed his head like a parakeet then showed his hands and said; "That's what the old man who gave me these stickers said as well."

"Those are called, patches, Nai." Gareki rolled his eyes.

"Patches?" Nai repeated with a questioned look then suddenly remembered something. His hands disappeared in his pockets only to appear again with several pieces of candy clutched in them. "He also gave me these, for the trip!"

Gareki rolled his eyes. It was time someone talked about healthy food with the old fart. He was a doctor for crying out loud. The raven haired teen finished his breakfast, took a quick shower then after being fully clothed he decided to visit the old doc himself.

* * *

After dropping his 'Nai-gets-way-too-much-candy' complaint, Gareki strutted down the Research Tower hallway to meet the others outside. The latter's attention was drawn to one of the nearby rooms. Akari's angry voice bellowed something inside the room and it was more than obvious to Gareki the pink haired doctor had an argument with the shitty four eyes.

"I have better things to do, you know?! Ask someone else!"

Curious to what they were talking about, Gareki scurried closer to the door, but then he heard Yogi's cheerful voice echo through the hallway. He turned around and saw Yogi heading towards him, carrying large crates. Nai skipped beside the blond combatant. Before Gareki had the chance to greet them, Yogi pushed the crates he carried into Gareki's arms. They were quite heavy and Gareki wondered what was in it.

"Could you and Nai take this to the ship?" Yogi asked politely. Gareki wondered how he possibly could reject when having them already pushed into his arms. Somebody really should learn the idiot to ask first.

Thinking Gareki's silence meant a yes, Yogi smiled even brighter and cried happily; "Thank you! I'll get the remaining stuff and see you and Nai outside."

"Wait!" Gareki called out, but Yogi turned out to be fast and was already gone. Gareki grumbled annoyed then strutted outside to the landing platform, closely followed by Nai. Gareki hoped they wouldn't return to the dusty airship. If they do, he would try run for it again.

Since there was no one around to take the crates from him, Gareki shrugged nonchalantly then put them on the ground next to the airship capsule. It took a few minutes before Yogi joined them again.

"The doc gave us sweets for the trip!" Yogi exclaimed ecstatically as he handed the candy to Nai who looked equally excited.

Gareki's face turned into a scowl. "When did he gave those!"

"Just a few minutes ago, why?" Yogi asked as he put the crates in the back of the airship capsule. Gareki didn't reply. His mind filled with anger and this was more than enough proof that the doc only handed Yogi the sweets to annoy him. Why else would he give that shit to Nai AFTER he specifically asked to stop giving it?

Gareki glared at his white haired companion in the front of the ship, watching him chew down the energy bars as if he hadn't been eaten anything in days. Gareki made a mental note to himself to go out catching butterflies again, as soon as they returned from their mission. If no one wants to give the 'animal' a proper diet, he had to do it.

While Nai was eating the candy and Gareki prepared the small ship for take-off, Gareki's mind wandered back to the previous night where he pretended to be asleep when the old doc and Yogi talked with Nai about his birth place. It was more than obvious they would be heading there to see if they could find any leads on Karoku.

"You are such a good boy, Nai-Chan!"

Gareki, who was snapped from his thoughts thanks to Yogi's sudden bubbly voice, glared angrily at the back of the blond combatant's head and spat; "You're very annoying, you know that?! Hurry up and take off already!"

Not taken back by Gareki's rudeness, Yogi cheered happily; "Buckle up, everyone, we'll be blasting off in…

"Yes, yes! Just go already!"

"AAAGH!" Yogi exclaimed when he heard the sudden familiar voice of Akari. Gareki and Nai seemed confused with the doctor's presence as well. Neither of them had noticed him getting into the seat, in the first place.

Looking as pale as a sheet and quivering anxiously, Yogi stuttered nervously; "Agh, yes, Akari-sensei. We're taking off."

* * *

Gareki stared bored out the window half-listening to what Akari was telling about the place they were travelling to. It was something about its unique electromagnetic waves causing all electronic devices to malfunction, so to find their way they had to use sonics. Gareki continued staring out the window until the island came in sight.

Happy to be outside the air capsule, Nai dashed around the beach while Akari and his team of scientists set up camp with Yogi's help. Gareki watched them work then sighed. He would probably get in their way if he volunteered to help so, he had to come up with something else to chase away the boredom.

"Oi! Nai!" Gareki called out. Nai, who plopped himself in the sand, looked over to see Gareki strut towards him. The raven haired thief smirked then asked; "Are you up for a funny game?"

Nai nodded with a beaming smile then listened carefully when Gareki explained him the rules.

Yogi was lifting some crates from the air capsule when he saw Nai dash around through the sand with his cheeks puffed. The blond combatant couldn't help it and instantly became worried.

"What are you doing, Nai?"

Nai halted his playful dash to look at Yogi and waved happily then pointed at his cheeks and throat, and shook his head. He then continued dashing towards Yogi, cheeks still puffed.

"Akari-sensei? I think something is very wrong with Nai!" Yogi wailed over his shoulder at the pink haired doctor. "He acts like he swallowed something large."

Akari stopped with what he was doing and looked at Nai who now turned slowly blue. Yogi turned hysterics and tried to force Nai to cough up whatever he had in his mouth. Nai shook his head, gestured at his cheeks, and proceeded holding his breath.

"That's just great! Hirato will have our asses if Nai blows up from lack of air!" Akari grunted then walked over to the half Niji and said; "Nai, stop it! You will kill yourself if you don't breath any time soon!"

Nai shook his head for a second time while being completely blue in the face.

"Yeah, we know you can hold your breath, Nai! Now breath!" Akari scolded.

Nai proceeded to hold his breath for another fifteen minutes then looked over to Gareki who gave him some thumb-ups. Feeling proud, Nai lets his breath out and breathed in and out with heavy exhales. Everyone looked confused.

"What…?" Yogi stuttered.

Nai smiled then said; "I played a game with Gareki. He said that if I could hold my breath until my face turned blue, I would get some butterflies for lunch. I did great, huh?"

Akari shook his head then mumbled; "I think I never met someone that stupid."

Right on cue, Gareki stormed down the beach holding a flaming branch while screaming from the top of his lungs; "FIRE! FIRE! I LIKE FIRE BUT FIRE DOESN"T LIKE ME! SOMEONE, HEEEEELLPP!"

Yogi looked at Akari slowly and asked; "You were saying…?"

Akari face palmed his face and made a mental note to himself to get some revenge on Hirato for forcing him to head into middle of nowhere with a bunch of idiotic behaving people.

"Sorry, I obviously did something wrong there…" Gareki smirked after he had thrown the flaming branch into the ocean. "This was my first time trying to build up a fire, so you can't really blame me, right?"

Yogi frowned; "Why would you even set up a fire?"

"Nai likes his butterflies crispy, duh!" Gareki replied, and Nai nodded agreed.

Akari sighed then turned around to face his team and said; "Let's form a group and investigate this island. Nai, you will lead us so focus!" Nai nodded obediently. Akari glared at Gareki before one word emitted from his lips. "Behave!"

For about an hour, Nai lead the team through the forest and though they didn't walk once on a distinct trail, he knew exactly where to go. He kept walking without hesitation. Even when they seemed to reach a dead end, Nai kept walking then vanished through the rock wall that blocked their path. Everyone was stunned.

Realizing the rock wall had to be one of the island's mirages, Akari and the team followed Nai. They were amazed with what they found, a big open clearing surrounded by trees. It was like they had walked through a secret passage, which they sort of did.

Nai waited for the others to join him as he looked at a pile of burned rumble and wood. It seemed like it were the remains of a cabin.

"The destruction wasn't due to natural causes," Akari pointed out then told the team of scientists to do some further investigations. His mind slowly wandered off. _"This place wasn't shown on the aerial photos of the forest. We wouldn't have found this place without Nai. It looks like someone came here to erase the evidence."_

"Cheer up, Nai-chan," Yogi said when he noticed Nai felt a bit saddened.

Not taking his eyes off the burned down cabin, Nai said softly; "There is another place I stayed for a long time."

"Show us," Akari said.

Obediently, Nai turned around and walked back from where they came, through the rock wall. After a short walk through the forest they reached a cave. Nai stopped in front of the entrance and pointed.

"A cave?" Gareki frowned.

Akari and Yogi didn't say a word until the latter one was alarmed by a soft sound in the air. When he turned around he saw ugly, black bird like creatures heading toward them with speed.

"Get down!" the blond combatant exclaimed alarmed then leaped into the air and summoned his two swords. "I'm actually scared of fighting since failure isn't an option. But I will fight if I need to."

Without hesitation, Yogi attacked the Varuga, one at the time. Stabbing them as soon as they came too close to the others who were recoiled down in the grass. Once he had finished them off, the Varuga fell down in the grass like big chunks. Nai's heart dropped when he saw they missed a small bunny by an inch, several times. The bunny rolled from left to right as it tried to avoid the chunks and injured himself, badly.

Before either Akari or Gareki could stop him, Nai escaped from Akari's grip and ran forward to save the defenceless bunny. From the air, Yogi saw what happened. As Nai shielded the bunny from the Varuga 'chunks', one Varuga went into a straight bee-line toward the half-Niji.

"NAI!" Gareki called out in fear.

As if the enemy heard the young thief's call, it turned all the sudden and went straight for him, instead.

"Gareki!"

Nai looked up, alarmed. The bunny was save in his arms but, the enemy took off with his best friend. His heart dropped once again and he somehow knew it was his fault.


End file.
